The US military's Central Command said on Thursday that American forces killed a senior member of the militant Islamic State group on Thursday, killing a senior member of the militant Islamic State group in a pre-dawn raid on northeastern Syria.
The operation is part of the United States effort to clamp down on Islamic State militants who have been territorially defeated but still orchestrate attacks in Syria and neighboring Iraq.
Colonel Joe Buccino said in an emailed statement to the AFP that Centcom forces targeted a senior ISIS official in northeast Syria.
Centcom said on Twitter that the raid had targeted Rakkan Wahid al-Shammari, an ISIS official who is known to facilitate the smuggling of weapons and fighters. One of his associates was wounded, and that two others were killed, and that the raid did not result in further casualties.
Syria's state broadcaster said earlier that a US operation involving multiple helicopters left one person dead and saw several others captured in a government-controlled area of northeastern Syria, which is mostly dominated by Kurdish forces.
The targeted village, Muluk Saray, is located 17 kilometres south of the Kurdish-held city of Qamishli and is controlled by pro-regime militias, the Syrian Observatory for Human RightsObservatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based war monitor said Thursday's raid was the first such airborne operation in government-held territory since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011.
The Observatory said the person killed in the operation had been a resident of the area for years, and relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria.
A Syrian and an Iraqi were captured in the operation, according to the monitor.
Three US helicopters carrying troops had landed in the operation, according to a resident of the village.
The US forces raided a house, killing one person and taking others captive, a resident told AFP on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The residents said they used loudspeakers to call on residents to stay indoors during the operation.
The resident identified the victim as Abu Hayel, a little-known displaced person from Hassakeh province.
The US is leading a military coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria.
In July of this year, the Pentagon said it killed Syria's top Islamic State militant in a drone strike in the northern part of the country.
Centcom said he had been one of the top five Islamic State leaders.
The July strike came five months after a nighttime US raid in the town of Atme, which led to the death of IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi.
The US officials said Qurashi died when he detonated a bomb to avoid capture.
After losing their last territory following a military attack backed by the US-led coalition in March 2019, the remnants of Islamic State in Syria retreated into desert hideouts.
They have used hideouts to ambush Kurdish-led forces and Syrian government troops while continuing to attack Iraq.